Lever-tripping device for bottle-capping machines



LEVER TRIPPING DEVICE FOR BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINES W 24 W 5 Q Filed Nov. 8, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1,690,070 R. E. HILL LEVER TRIPPING DEVICE FOR BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 30, 1928.

Filed Nov. 8, 1924 1 V 0 O i Patented Oct. 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES i mmo-1:. I L, or menus, ILLINO sslemn Tammie assume can g 7 1,090,020 P TENrmE- romrron, or DECATUR, ILLINOIS, 'GQMOEAHQN OF- ILLINOIS,

, nvmmmme DEVICE ron, BOTTLEFCAPPING nncnmns.

Application filed November 8, 1924. Serial No. 748,632.

1. ing lever in its raised position. While pres- 1 sureis maintained upon the cap, the lever is thrown down for the purpose ofsecurely fastening the cap to the bottle, inasmuch as the ring, connected to the skirt, is contracted by 1 this downward movement of the lever and the downward movement of the lever is completed it is looked upon the cap.

In order to trip the cap lever it is of course best to apply the pressure either at the end 2 thereof, or to a point adjacent the end, and

inasmuch as this lever swings throughthe are a circle it is desirable, and in fact may be said necessary, to have the tripping mechanism move also in the are of a circle in or- I do]? to accommodate the movement of the lever, thereby maintaining the proper contact between the tripping device and the lever 0 at th prop p int- Furthermore, it is desirable that the trip device should cease its tripping movement at the proper time as otherwise theneck of the bottle maybe fractured by the continued pressure ofthe tripping device upon the lever after the operation has beencompleted. This becomes of importance in using the tripping device in connection with different sizes of caps as it will he understood that i for large size caps a definite amount of movement will be necessary and for small caps the less movement is necessary.

; of the utmost importance that the tripping action of the lever should be done as quickly possible inasmuch as the capping machine is operated rapidly in .order to accommodate quantity productions, e V

The ob ect of my invention therefore is to j srovide a simple efficient lever tripping p V p 7 v, V the mouth or noazlethereof, and after the cap evice fora cappingmachine which will sue the various functions hereinbefore referred to. V p

My invention thereforeconsists in providn a vertically mov b Plung whi i preferably movedin one di ection by a pring zontal section on wanna- 7 of Fig, 2, these sections shown in Figs. 5., 6 and 7 being slight- In a capping devlce of this kind it is also'j' cessfillly perform in the manner indicated,

and in a reverse direction by a cam, said plunger carrying at itslovver endj thejtripping finger which c'ontactswith the lever of the bottle cap, and the plunger, thefinger, and

the guiding and cooperating parts areso conf structed and arranged that at the same time the finger is moved vertically it will also be shifted laterally so that its freeend willdescribe acurve substantially the same as the curve described b the end of the cap lever so that the tripping finger-is in proper positive contact with the cap lever atall'times during the tripping ope ration; i i

\ The invention consists also "in providing in connection with saidplunger, not only 7 the proper guides, but also a stop mechanism forlimitingthe downward movement of said plunger, so that the movement of the finger can be arrested at the propertime and undue pressure prevented.

The invention also consists in certain details of construction hereinafterset forth and described in the claims.

In the drawings; forming a part of this specification, Fig." 1 is a side elevation of a tripping mechanism emhodying-oneiorm of my invention Fig. 2 is a rearor innerface vlew oi the same; F g. 3 s a central "vertical longitudinal sectional view F ig-.4 is' a vertical sectional viewofa device taken onthe plane at right angles tothe section of Fig; .3; Fig. 5is a. horizontal section'on theiline 5-5 of Fig; 2; Fig. 6' is, a. horizontal section on the line 6+6 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 7' is a horily enlarged F 8 is a detailed View showing the tripping finger in its-raised position; Fig. 9 is a detailed view showing the position of the finger about halfway lowered,the lower position of the'fingerbeing indicated in Fig.' 1. Fig. 10is a side view ofone of the guide p a s! This tripping device constitutes a part of a complete rotary capping machine whichis supplied withjtwelveor more bottles, tans or jugs, each' bottle "or can having acap of the kind described automatically applied to has been, applied to the mouth ofthebottle,

and pressure applied thereto to firmly force the cap into' contact with the mouth of the "bottle, it is moved away from the cap'applyand it is this tripping mechanism Which I will now describe in detail.

One part of the capping machine is a hori' zontal circular cam 10 having a gradual rise 10- and a steep drop or descent 10 there being a substantially flat spot l at the end of the rise and which terminates in the drop 10".

This cam rotates with the machine in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2.

A statioinirv arm extends radially outwardly from the center of the machine and carries at its outer end a depending arm 12 to which connected the lever tripping device which constitutes the subject matter o'l this application, and in the construction of which I employ a plate 13 which is'secured to the depending arm 12. Rigidly connected to this plate 13 along its central longitudinal line is a block 14, and rigidly connected to this centrally disposed block 14 upon each side thereof are the parallel guide plates 15 which extend from the top of the block it to the lower end of the plate 13. Sliding upon the guide plates 15 is a plunger composed of the block l6 and plates 17 connected to the sides of the block and extending downwardly and contacting with the outer sides of the plates 15, the side portions of the plunger terminating at a point above the end of: the guide plates 15 and back plate 13.

The side plates 17 are connected to the block 16 by means of. the screws 16 and the lower ends of the side plates 17 are connected through the medium of a pin 18 working in straight vertical slots 19 cut in th guide plates 15, and this pin 18 also serves as a pivotal connection for the tripping linger 2O sliding vertically between the lower ends of the guide plates 15 the extreme lower end 20 of the lever being spread as shown in order to provide ample width for engagement with the capping lever inasmuch as said lever may not always rest in the same relative position. The finger 20 is also curved inwardly as shown at 20 and carries a pin 21 extending therethrough. the ends of" said pin working in the cam slots 22 produced in the plates 15 adjacent their lower ends and it will he noted that the upper portions of the slots are straight while the remainder of the slots are curved as hereinafter described.

It will therefore be understood that the plunger slides up and down upon the guide plates and carries the tripping finger at its lower end between said guide plates. the finger being pivotallv connected at its upper end to the plunger and provided intermediate its ends with the laterally projecting pin portions which engage the curved slots in the guiding plates so as to impart an in-and-out lateral movement of the tripping finger at the same time that it is moved up and down.

The upper end of the block 16 has a recess 16 produced therein to receive the lower end of a coil spring which passes vertically upwardly through a barrel 2! and lite: into a housing 25 arranged at the upper end of the plate 13. A tension s rew 26 works through the top oi the housing and carries a head 26" at its lower end within the housing for engagement with the coil spring 13. This tension screw 26 has a turning head 26 and is also provided with a lock nut 26. By the adjustment of the screw :26 the proper amount of tension can be provided for throwing the plunger downward. For the purpose of raising the plunger and placing th spring 23 under conmrcssion I arrange a roller 27 on the inner side of block 16 which travels upon the cam 10 riding up the incline l0 and dropping down the ste p incline it)" as soon as the edge of the horizontal portion 10" has been passed.

It will be understood that as the roller 27 travels up the incline l0 the plunger and tinger are drawn upwardly to the positions :dzown in Fig. 9. and when the point l0" has been passed the spring :23} throws the p unger and linger downwardly to the posiion shown in Fig. l and Fig. 3: and about hal l way ladwccn the upper and lO\ .'c!: ill'Ul-1(.'S th linger will be in the position indi ahul in Fig. 9.

Thus it will be seen that the plunger is lift ed bv the cam and is thrown dmvnwardlv by the spring carrying with it the lripping finger 20 and moving th same into the position indicrten in Fig. Fl to the positions indicated in Figs. 1 and 3 but owing to the tripping linger 20 being provided with pin 21 \\0]'l-Ill1 1'ifl the slots in the guide plates the lower end of the tripping finger is caused to move in the are of a c rcle during this movement and as the. lower ends of this finger 20 rest directly above the end of the capping lever it will remain in contact with the outer end of this capping lever during its movement through the are of a circle, this movement of the capping lever 30 being produced by the tripping linger 20 hearing down thereon. The complete capping operation will be practically instantaneous and as the cam continues to move. the roller will begin to travel up the next incline returning the tripping finger to its raised or upper position readv to act upon the next capping lever as the next bottle with the cap thereon is brought opposite the laterally enlarged end of the tripping finger.

.lt will of course he understood that the operations of the machine are so timed that the. bottles with caps thereon will he brought successively into proper iuxtaposition with the tripping linger just at the proper moment lor the tripping finger to operate upon the lever of the cap.

In order to limit the downward movement of the plunger and tripping finger. and thereby prevent undue breakage I provide a stop plunger, and a lock nut 33 is also carried by this screw for the purpose of locking the same at any desired place of adjustment.

This not only limits the downward movement of the plunger but it also provides a cushion to relieve the jar-of the sudden movement of the plunger.

It will thus be seen that I provide a very simple and hi hlyefiicient mechanism for manipulating t 1e fastening lever of the cap,

embodying a tripping finger which not only presses upon the cap lever but also moves through exactly the same are of a circle as said lever, so as to maintain contact witha-smuch as one capped bottle is moved away from the lever tripping mechanism and another bottle with the unfastened cap thereon.

is moving toward said mechanism and these various operations are so timed that the plunger with the tripping finger 1s completely raised and ready to descend just atthe moment the bottle with cap thereon and lever raised moves into proper conjunction with the lower end of they tripping finger.

The guide plates 15 have notches 15? cut therein to receive the plates 36 securedby bolts 37 to the block ltand these plates 36 extend laterally a sufiicient distance to overlap the platemembers 17 of theplu'nger thereby guiding said plunger and holding the same to its true vertical position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination with a guide having a s1ot,of a vertically .movable plunger, a finger pivotally connected to the end of the plunger, a pin carried by the finger and working in the slot, said slot being curved to impart a lateral movement to the free end of the finger during its vertical movement.

2. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a guide, of a plunger reciprocating on said guide, a finger carried at the end of said plunger, one of said parts having a curved slot and another a pin engaging said slot and imparting to said finger a lateral movement during its vertical movement together-with means for moving said finger and plunger vertically.

3. In a device of the kind described, the J combination with a suitably supportedblock,

of fixed guide plates having vertical and curved slots, a plunger'sliding upon said guide plates, a finger movable bet-Ween the lower ends of the uide plates and pivotally connected to the plunger, the pivot Working in the vertical slots inthe guide plates,- a

pin carried by the finger and. working in the curved slots in the guide plates, and means for moving said plunger vertically. In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

ROLAND E. HILL. 

